It took him one year and one day to do it, but Cobourg resident Sam Miron has officially crossed Canada on his Ride With Heart campaign to raise money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
On June 10, 2021, he biked eastward from Vancouver's west coast. He made it back to Cobourg and went east earlier this month – and now has arrived at Nova Scotia's east coast.
In a June 12 update message from the road, Miron wrote that his goal had been to go coast-to-coast and visit every province in Canada's mainland. Undertaking the task in a pandemic presented a multitude of problems, the first of which was that the bike he shipped to Vancouver did not arrive in that city when he did.
“No problem – Harley Davidson Canada gave me a loaner bike to take to Edmonton where they were going to have mine delivered and they did,” he wrote.
“So in 2021, I went through British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba (could not stay overnight here, or I would have quarantined for 14 days) and then Ontario.”
Looking eastward, he learned that Prince Edward Island was shut down due to COVID. This year, however, a ride east was all-systems-go.
And he had company this year – Rick Polley for one day, and Jim Melvin and Pete Silvera for the whole journey.
“We started on Wednesday, June 8, rode through Quebec then into New Brunswick, Nova Scotia. We did the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton Island this morning, and this evening we just got off the ferry in Prince Edward Island.”
While this was all done at his own expense, Miron has taken pledges as a fundraiser for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. He calculated the trip to be 7,000 km., so he hoped to raise $1 per kilometre.
“So far, thanks to all of your donations, we are close to a total of $10,000,” he reported.
This support means a lot to Miron, who lost his mother, father, mother-in-law and – suddenly this past March – his long-time friend Bob Merpaw to heart issues.
“I don't want to lose sight of the reason for this trip, which is to raise money for Heart and Stroke. We all know someone who has suffered from either one,” he wrote.
As he readies for the ride back home – another 1,600 km. - Miron expressed his gratitude to his supporters.
